Seeing Jesus: Expecting the Right Thing

So, let's get into the Bible. That's like so much. I really want to talk about

that this morning. So, if you could open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

We're going to be continuing on in Matthew this morning. And I just like,

I was thinking about going into something else.

But I just was like, no, I really want to see Jesus. I really want to do this thing.

We've been just like trying to get a picture of Jesus more and more.

Because when you're a pastor. Oh boy, this is. How am I going to say this?

When you're a pastor, there's a temptation to just kind of drive towards a topic, you know?

And there's several topics that could be on my mind. We should talk about this

because I think it's important.

But I love this type of teaching going through a text because,

well, number one, that Jesus gets to decide what we talk about here,

you know? Because we're going to be in Matthew chapter 11. Why?

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Because it comes after Matthew chapter 10 where we left off, right?

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

And we just get to do this thing. And I love this style of teaching because

I'm always surprised by the Bible when I slow down and when I take it for what

it is and I try to just like say, okay, Lord, what is the message that you're saying to me?

Not what is my feeling of what's important right now? Or what is my sense of my own need right now?

But actually, Lord, what is your word saying? Like, and how is that actually

super relevant to my own life in ways that I can't even understand?

When we just come to the text and we just say, hey, Lord, just show us who you

are like this. I just think there's so much surprise in it.

And so I'm really, really excited to be back in Matthew.

We actually looked at the beginning of this section, Matthew 11.

We looked at this a few months back because it was relevant to some things we

were talking about, about John the Baptist, because he's kind of the focus of

this initial couple verses here.

We talked about how John the Baptist had been arrested and he sent some messengers

out to Jesus because he was wondering. He was wondering. He had some questions for Jesus.

And so picking up in Matthew 11, verse 1 says this.

Matthew 11:1

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples,

he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

And now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing,

he sent a message through his disciples and asked him, are you the one who is

to come or should we expect someone else?

John really needed to know. He's just sitting in his prison cell and he just had this question.

Look at Jesus. I just have to ask. I just have to be sure.

Are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we've been waiting for?

And I mean, from our vantage point, I mean, we've been going along in the book

of Matthew and it seems like, well, duh.

I mean, you could look at all the things he's doing, all the miraculous stuff

he's doing and all the ways that he's talking.

And we've been talking about how really Matthew is making the case.

He's making it clear that he is the Messiah. So from our perspective, we're like, of course.

But I mean, I think we can have some sympathy for John's perspective because

John was, he understood his message as a prophet out in the wilderness, baptizing people.

He understood very overtly that he had a sense of purpose and calling and he was doing something.

He understood that he had been sent to prepare the way for the Messiah.

No question that John understands this to be his purpose and his calling.

And for John, the Messiah's coming meant something. And it meant something very specific.

He had a sense that when the Messiah comes, it will look like X, Y, Z.

It will look like something very obvious. And I would say the big picture thing

is that it would mean that God was going to set his people free.

Because that's the messianic promise. The messianic promise is God will be prophet,

priest, king. He'll come and fulfill.

He'll restore the glory to Israel. He will judge Israel's enemies.

He will save them and deliver them. And so he had this very clear picture of

what that was going to look like.

But a year or so later, after having baptized Jesus, actually,

probably a couple of years later, having baptized Jesus, John is sitting in a prison cell.

And he is understandably wondering, well, I thought Jesus was going to be the

Messiah, but just looking at the circumstance,

looking at the way things are in this moment, I'm really wondering maybe there's

someone else yet to come because Jesus hasn't done these things that he expected him to do.

I can imagine that in his prison cell, he is remembering the words of Psalm

13, which John certainly would have had memorized.

How long, Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up my anxious

concern within me, agony in my mind every day?

How long will my enemy dominate me?

Consider me an answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes.

Otherwise, I will sleep in death.

My enemy will say, I've triumphed over him. And my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

Many of you have been able to pray this prayer? How many of you are praying

it this morning or this week? How long, O Lord?

And how many have then, after saying that, immediately felt bad about saying it?

I think that a lot of us have, but I think actually it's really a good question to ask. How long, O Lord?

It's a good and right and very Christian question to ask. I mean,

if the psalmist is doing it, then it's probably okay.

We have a biblical example of what this looked like. See, John was waiting patiently

for God, but patience doesn't look like just sitting on your hands and just

zoning out, being unattentive,

being uninterested.

Disconnecting yourself from your concerns or the reality of things or your disappointments.

That's not what biblical patience is.

Because, I mean, what John is doing, as I think he's demonstrating for us,

that it's good to expect something from God.

It's really good to expect things from God. I think a lot of us think,

well, I'll get through the difficulties in my life by expecting less from God.

And I actually think the way that the psalmist shows us to deal with our anxieties

and our disappointments is actually to lean in and expect more from Him.

To lean in and actually to press in and to speak to God and to express our concerns

and our discouragements to God.

It is really good to expect things from God. I think I've got a slide that says

that, but it's like, says it's slightly different than I wrote it down.

Cause that was not, Oh, is he there? Oh, just the next one, Isaac.

I couldn't see you under there. We should expect something from God.

We should really, we should go ahead and expect something from God.

Some of you guys just need that permission. Honestly, you have permission to expect things from God.

So let's keep going. Let's keep going because there's a further question to

ask here. Okay, so keep going in the text.

Jesus replied to them, go and report to John what you see. So this is his response.

Report to John what you see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk,

those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,

the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn't offended by me.

So Jesus says, in his slightly enigmatic, slightly indirect kind of way,

he says, no, you are not wrong. I am the Messiah.

You aren't wrong to expect something from me. And he points to the fact that

he is doing all this messianic stuff, this list of things, these miraculous cleansing of lepers,

healing of the deaf, raising the dead, telling the poor the good news.

These are things that were associated by the ancient prophets with the work of the Messiah.

And so it's Jesus's way of telling John, yep, that's me.

You've got it right. I am the Messiah. I am the expected one.

See, I'm actually doing the work that I was sent to do, evidenced by these things,

healing, cleansing, proclaiming the good news, raising the dead.

Jesus says, yes, you ought to expect something. You ought to,

even in your prison cell, continue to expect something.

But I think circumstantially we can understand, I feel like Jesus is implying,

and we'll talk about it further along here, is that you should ask this question, what should you expect?

What kinds of things would you expect? John should be asking from his prison

cell, okay, if he is the Messiah, I'm going to expect something,

but what should I expect from him?

And Jesus then turns to the crowd and he begins to kind of process with them

because you can imagine they think this is a fair question from John.

And maybe some of them are wondering the same things, where's the beef?

You know, where is all the victory?

Where is all the conquering? Where's all the stuff that we were promised that

we thought the Messiah was going to do?

So Jesus turns to the crowd and he begins to process those expectations.

He says this, as these men were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.

What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes?

See, those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces.

What then did you go out to see? A prophet?

Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

This is the one about whom it is written, See, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you.

He will prepare your way before you.

See, just as John is questioning, Well, Jesus, are you the Messiah?

The crowd is maybe questioning, Well, is John really the one who's preparing the way for the Messiah?

They're going back. They're doing the work. They're thinking again,

could this be? And Jesus makes it clear.

Oh, no, I mean, he's definitely the one who's come to prepare the way and implying

then that he is indeed the Messiah.

All of Israel had expectations of the Messiah, though, and they thought that

the Messiah would show up and it would be like a king, like David come again,

but like more than David, doing more,

being more powerful, stronger armies, more wealth, more prestige.

And knowing this, knowing that they have certain expectations,

probably expectations that need confrontation, Jesus asked them some really

confrontational kind of questions to get them to think.

He asks them, when they went to seek out John in the wilderness,

did you go into the wilderness to see a man dressed in soft clothes?

Or to see a reed blowing into the wind?

Those are contextually, actually, two very direct references to King Herod.

I mean, one is pretty obvious, right? A man in soft clothes who lives in royal palaces.

The reed blowing into the wind actually takes some historical context.

I have a picture of a coin that Herod minted when he established a new city.

So the image on your right there, low pixelation, but it's a reed blowing in the wind.

It's Herod's symbol because he built a city on top of a swamp.

And so he was very proud of himself for what he had done. And so he minted this

coin in honor of his great accomplishments.

And so Jesus talks about Herod being his symbol, being a reed blowing in the wind.

He's basically saying to the crowd, he says, did you think when you came out

to see John, you were looking for royalty? You were looking for a king?

You were looking for someone like Herod?

Or were you coming for something that God was doing?

He's helping them dissociate their expectations, what they expected the Messiah

and his kingdom was going to look like from what the reality is that's standing in front of him.

And Jesus reminds everyone that they came to John because he was a prophet.

He was someone who was coming in the name of God, not in the name of earthly

things or earthly kingdoms, not with armies or powers or scepters in the way that they had expected.

He says, you came to John, a man wearing sackcloth, a man who was like eating

bugs in the wilderness and surviving on honey, a man who was speaking harsh

words about repentance, right?

He didn't coddle the wealthy or the elite and he didn't raise up an army.

He says, you came to him because you thought God was gonna do something through

him, not through King Herod.

It was clear that wasn't going to happen. Jesus is slicing through their expectations.

On. He says, Truly I tell you, among those born of women, no one who is greater

than John the Baptist has appeared.

But the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been

suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you're willing

to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

Let anyone who has ears listen.

Jesus is insistent to the crowd. You aren't mistaken.

John is who you think he is. He is the one coming to make the way for the Messiah.

He says, if you're willing to accept it, he understands there might be some

difficulty in accepting it because the expectations don't line up with what

the crowd thought it would be.

But he says, but if you're willing to accept it, I will insist that he is,

in fact, he says, he is the Elijah, the prophet who would perceive the Messiah.

That's a reference to Malachi 4.5.

Malachi 4.5 says this, Behold, I am going to send you Elijah,

the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

This is one of many references to what this messianic expectation that Israel had.

They say, one thing is going to happen is that this prophet is going to come,

and then the Messiah is going to come and then God is going to do this great

and terrible day of the Lord stuff.

And it was great for them, terrible for their enemies, right?

They're expecting that God is going to do some massive things.

But he knows, Jesus knows, he says, yes, he is, but he knows it's going to be

hard for some of them to accept.

Well, it's the same issue John is having. If John is the prophet who is going

to precede the Messiah, then Jesus is the Messiah. So where's the power?

Where is the great and terrible day of the Lord? Where is the conquering?

Where is the kicking out of Rome? Where is the king who we expected to just

kind of punch Herod in the face?

Like we want to see all that stuff. Where is judgment, God's judgment on his enemies?

See, Jesus knew what people were expecting. They were talking about the kingdom

of heaven has been suffering.

He talks about the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence and being seized

by the violent, by the forceful.

What Jesus is saying is that there are people who are trying right now,

since John the Baptist's time, they're trying to stir up the kingdom to make it violent.

I mean, Jesus was surrounded by political forces, even some of his disciples,

zealots who wanted to take his message and turn it into a rebellion.

And Jesus understands this. He says, we were surrounded by people who have these

expectations and who are trying to force upon the kingdom of heaven that I'm

proclaiming, this kind of extremely political and retributive kind of movement.

They're trying to get me to be in charge of an army to go and destroy,

just like Judas Maccabeus, to go try to store the Romans.

And so they're saying, this is our chance to fight. Come on, Jesus, let's get going.

They're wondering, where's the violence? We want to see the violence.

We were promised some violence.

We were promised some bloodshed. In the Roman world, this was like what they

valued. It was a show of strength.

And here's Jesus healing, doing messianic things, but not the great,

terrible, judging day of the Lord kind of stuff. What's the problem?

And what's clear throughout Jesus' ministry, and even and especially after his

resurrection, is that people have trouble understanding because they have these

false expectations, expectations that are legitimate but not.

Legitimate but they need some parsing. They have expectations of what the kingdom

that Jesus is establishing is going to look like.

They expect Jesus the Messiah to set up a government, to wage war,

to punish evil people. and Jesus consistently and intentionally makes it clear,

at least for now, that's not the plan.

All scripture is going to be fulfilled in me, but for the time being,

something else is going on.

We have to understand as Christians, sometimes I think contemporary Christians

want to not talk about judgment.

My father, actually we had this long talk about this. My father is 72. too.

And he's like, when I grew up, everybody just talked about judgment all the time.

And he's like, but Christians today never talk about judgment.

And he was asking me to try it. He's like, basically, why is that?

And I'm like, well, that's a long theological thing.

But I do think there's an extent to which, well, one, it's a little bit unpopular

to talk about judgment, but the Bible hasn't changed.

Ultimately, when Jesus comes back, he's going to come to judge the living and the dead.

These are the creeds. We still believe these things. We don't think about them.

But understand that right now, the judge appointed to right every wrong,

to put down the wicked, to establish justice,

to lift up the oppressed, all these things that Messiah is called to do.

Right now, what he's doing is saying, he's saying, I will one day do those things.

But right now, I am, as judge, offering mercy in this period of time.

And as Jesus dies and he rises again, he tries to press on his disciples that,

yes, that judgment is coming. But for now, something different is going around.

After his resurrection, we read about a conversation Jesus has in Acts 1.

He says this. I think it's pretty interesting. He says, this is the intro.

After he had suffered, so after Jesus died, rose again, he presented himself

alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of

40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem,

but to wait for the Father's promise, which, he said, you will hear me speak

about, you heard me speak about,

for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.

So when they'd come together, they

asked him, Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?

And he said to them, it's not for you to know the times and the periods that

the father is set by his own authority.

I love this scene. And because I'm so cool, I made a meme of it.

This is the meme version of this little scene. It's a classic, right?

You know, Star Wars fans love and hate this. I hate this because the new movies

were terrible but that's okay.

They're not even the new movies anymore. They're the older movies now.

I'm so old. How did that happen? They were new when I was in high school.

You might not understand this. You might not get memes. I apologize.

But the young people won't understand what I'm talking about otherwise, right?

There's this thing going on here where Jesus is coming back.

He's now died and risen again.

Like the Jesus, as he's speaking to his disciples about the kingdom,

it's going over their head, over their head, over their head,

just like it went over the crowd's head.

They weren't quite getting that they needed to adjust their expectations.

But now Jesus has died and risen again.

He's come back. He's hung out with the disciples, appeared to them multiple times over 40 days.

And at some point, some of the disciples say, okay, Jesus, we know you've been

sort of dodging the kingdom, dodging the judgment, dodging the armies and the punishment now.

He says, but now that the kingdom is here and now that you're resurrected,

surely now, Lord, you're going to establish the kingdom of Israel.

Surely now that you've defeated death, Now's the time to kick some butt.

And Jesus says, no, not really.

It's actually not the time yet. It's not the time yet.

And the disciples clearly have some trouble processing this. They don't understand.

Again, Jesus is not implying that there won't be judgment at one point,

but he says, even in his resurrection, even as he's sending his disciples out,

He says, what I am doing now is not this terrible day of judgment.

Actually, I'm sending you out into the world for the sake of mercy.

I'm sending you out. I'm not exercising a power of militaries and of generals

and of kings. He says, but I'm sending you out with a kind of power that is

going to be amazing in the midst of it.

He goes on in verse 8. He says, but you will receive power from the Holy Spirit

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

The answer that Jesus has for his disciples who are eagerly expecting this messianic

power is, yeah, I'm going to have a kind of power, but it's not the power of violence and judgment.

I have that. I'm just not coming with that yet. Instead, actually,

what I am coming with is a patient power, a kind of patient power of the kingdom.

Isaac, I think I got that up there.

Yeah, thanks. I appreciate that you're listening though, Isaac.

I really do. I like that. The patient power of the kingdom is happening right now.

It is power, the power of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, but it's not power to kick butt.

It's not power to judge just yet. It's actually a power to invite people and

to witness to the reconciling work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

It's power from the Holy Spirit that is going to animate the church for thousands

of years to come to say, not God is going to judge, but would you flee from the judgment?

Like, would you throw yourself on his mercy? Because he's not going to account

sin and wickedness and evil and rebellion against you.

He's actually come and demonstrated his love.

He wants to be the loving king, the forgiving king, the kind king who builds up his kingdom.

He says, but now it's like he's giving you a chance to turn from evil,

to turn from oppression, to turn from all this wickedness, to turn from just like sin of any kind.

He says, and not to just say like

within your power that you could do anything, but to turn to his mercy.

And so the church is sent out in that kind of power, proclaiming the patient power of the kingdom.

Because it's patient doesn't mean it's not powerful.

Instead of the kind of power that urgently or even violently

just resolves things through cutting people off jesus

sends his disciples with a kind of power that accompanies the presence of his

spirit and i want to think about that that type of power in a second that witnessing

power at least as it's expressed there in acts 1 8 power to witness but before

we even think about what that power looks like understand this is really important

i want to make it clear where that power comes from,

the power comes from the spirit who comes upon his people,

who's present upon his people. Jesus makes that super clear.

He says, there's going to be a time soon where there's going to be,

my presence is going to be with you. And presence precedes power.

Jesus is sending them out in power. But the first thing before they start to

demonstrate that power into the world and before the church starts to become

this witnessing, proclaiming community that's going to take over Rome in its own kind of way,

the presence of God comes upon them.

His presence, the Holy Spirit, precedes the exercise or demonstration of that power.

If you go in and you look at, and you study the Holy Spirit,

if you go in and do like a word study on the Holy Spirit, a topical study on

the Holy Spirit through scripture, I think it becomes really clear,

particularly in the New Testament, that the Holy Spirit is not a force.

It is not a power.

The Holy Spirit is a person.

Into our lives. He is the inheritance of Christians.

He seals us for salvation. And Jesus says to this New Testament church,

these disciples who are being sent out, he says,

wait, because you need his presence in order to do any of the things that I'm calling you to do.

In order to be a powerful witness for me in the world, you need to begin and

have that be preceded by an experience of like just an enjoyment,

a confidence of, and a knowledge of my presence with you, the presence of the Holy Spirit with you.

And just like, just like I think the disciples in their eagerness and John and

his eagerness and everyone in their eagerness to see the power of God,

we so oftentimes I think forget, like we would think, okay, God,

I want to have this kind of power that comes from you.

But I think we have to remember that it begins with presence.

I think there is an urgency in the Christian life.

One that I have to remind myself of so often, because I so often just skipped this.

I just want to go out and I want to just do this stuff of God,

or I want to be used by God, but I forget that any power,

any usefulness I might have in the kingdom, any work that God is going to do

through me, it's got to come from his presence in me first.

And so I so oftentimes neglect, this is my confession to you,

something that I have to learn, because I have to learn this new habit.

I neglect seeking the presence of God. I neglect spending time with the Holy Spirit.

And it's like, we can say like, oh, well, we can reduce it down to nuts and

bolts. Like, well, you got to pray more.

You got to study more. You got to do the things more. But in the end,

we have to do those things for the sake of being with God.

Being with a God who has said, I'm going to be with you.

The takeaway, if you take one thing away from this, understand this,

is that your life is going to rise and fall.

Your joy in the Christian life is going to rise and fall on,

do you spend time? Do you seek the presence of God?

Not the things that you can do for Jesus, but to be with him, to be with the Spirit.

And I'm using Jesus and the Spirit interchangeably like that because they're both God, right?

But I am saying, I think there is something unique in the Christian life,

something that Jesus presses upon his disciples to know that they need to seek and be empowered by.

And be present with the Spirit.

And it's so important.

Because we ought to have a right expectation. Actually, we ought to expect His presence.

We ought to expect His presence. Okay, so look, you can expect a lot of things

from God. You can hope in a lot of things.

Maybe you're sick. Maybe you're praying. Maybe you're expecting God to heal.

Great, continue to do that. Maybe you are expecting God to save a friend or family member.

You know, you ought to expect that. God is able.

He's willing. He wants those things. You should persist in prayer.

You should expect so much from God.

John expected to not be in a prison cell. So he's pressing. He's seeking out Jesus.

And I want to say two things simultaneously. Jesus heals.

He saves. He moves powerfully. We ought always to expect and hope and persist in those things.

And yet anyone who's been alive, anyone who's been a Christian for some time,

knows that sometimes the things that we hope for do not play out the way we hope that they will.

John died in that prison cell. Did God forget him? Absolutely not.

Can't always expect things to go exactly the way we want. No,

but we can and we must and we should always expect his presence in the midst of it.

I really think this is the one thing that no matter what God is always faithful

to do, he meets us in our pain and in our disappointments and he's present with us.

He'll always deliver on that.

And that will have like, honestly, that will be a place where power just begins

to overflow. Power for witness overflows.

We sometimes think, man, if I'm going to be used to witness to God,

then I just have to have all my problems solved.

Honestly, I think the most powerful witness, the people that I know who have

the most powerful witness, they actually go through a great pain and they find

the great comfort of God in the midst of it.

There's a long struggle that ends up radiating grace and mercy and power to

people around him, like the steadiness that comes from a person who is persisting

on seeking the Lord in the midst of a difficult time,

that is such a great and powerful witness.

And those people, not only they come to the other side of that long season,

those long seasons of disappointment with such a testimony and such a confidence

because they get to the end of Psalm 13,

the end of Psalm 13, how long, O Lord, complaining before the Lord,

how long will I end if he's defeat me?

The end of Psalm 13 ends this way. He says, but I have trusted in your faithful

love and my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.

And I will sing to the Lord because he's treated me generously.

In one sentence, this person cries out, how long the Lord?

And we don't get the sense that anything has really changed from verses one

through four to verses five and six, the end of Psalm 13.

We don't get the sense that anything's changed. The only thing that's changed

is that this person begins to experience the love and faithfulness and the presence

of God in the midst of a difficult time.

He realizes that God is generous to him or her in the midst of a difficult time.

And that is my thing. I need you to understand that the reality of life in the

kingdom of God, it's not what we think it should be yet.

It's not yet the time where every tear will be wiped away and every pain will

be no more and every injustice will be reversed.

That time is coming.

But there is going to be struggle now for us to hope, but a confidence and expectation

that God is going to meet us and be generous to us in the midst of it.

I can tell you blanket statement, no matter where you're at in life,

no matter how long you've been struggling, the one thing I can say that's true

for all of us is that we can expect his presence and we ought to, we ought to press in.

Going to come up. I just have one last point, and I think I've sort of touched on it.

We're also just going to have powerful witness, because this is the thing.

It's like, yes, I think the crucible of difficulty, the crucible of pain always

ends up being the place where God is so powerfully,

demonstrating his ability to save and his kindness.

And so, lookit, we have this kind of thought, oh, well, what I'm going to do

is I'm going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, then I'm just going to

go out and be like a super evangelist, and I'm going to have all the answers

for everybody's problems.

And I'm going to have all the answers to everyone's questions.

And I'm going to be able to explain to them all these difficult things.

I just think honestly, like that's just most people who I know who are radiating

the joy and who are great witnesses.

They're not empowered because of their great intellect or because of their kind

of skillfulness, right?

But they're just sitting there with Jesus and they've welcomed the Holy Spirit in their lives.

And that relationship is like the spark.

You like, I'm a nerd, you know, But I'm like even more of a nerd.

I've told somebody this before.

It's really embarrassing. My wife's going to walk out. She's going to be so

embarrassed. But when I was in middle school, you know Fort Nisqually?

You guys know Fort Nisqually down in Tacoma? And you go there and you see all

those people dressed up in historical reenacting clothes.

My grandmother was in charge of the parks department in Tacoma.

And she would just drop us off there all summer.

And I was one of those kids running around dressed in historical garb saying,

watch me throw an axe, you know?

And let me show you how I can light a fire with flint and steel Because I can do that, right?

I'm such, yeah, I'm a historical reenactor I'm in recovery, I'm in therapy It's

okay No, it was good, it was really fun Totally do it But, you know,

so I learned to light a fire with flint and steel, right?

And, you know, you have two hard things And they bang together and there's sparks

And those sparks actually get caught And you catch those sparks And wind blows

upon them You blow upon those things And then a fire begins.

They think that's a really good image of the kind of power of the kingdom that we see.

Like we're still pressing up against things. We're still pressing up against difficulty.

And yet when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and shows us our expectations

and our expectations are dealing up with the hard stuff of life, sparks fly, right?

But those sparks end up being the catalyst for power, for light,

for beauty, for the gospel going out.

I really believe that your most painful moments and your most difficult moments

and the things that are hardest, as you press through those with the presence

of God, and as the Holy Spirit comes and meets you in those places,

those very things will become the powerful witness.

You can expect that. You can hope in the midst of it.

I mean, honestly, don't hope for the result. Hope for His presence right now, wherever you're at.

He's so good, and He cares for us. He's generous to us. Maybe you need that reminder.

I hope that you have it this morning. We're going to take some time and we're

going to do communion here.

We're remembering, right? We're remembering what Jesus did.

Jesus left heaven, left eternal time, came down, took on flesh,

dwelt among us, died and suffered for our sake.

And the Bible says that he hung

on a cross to demonstrate his love for us while we were still sinners.

Weren't expecting anything from God. He says, I think you should expect something of me.

In fact, I think so much that I'm going to come and I'm going to show you how

much I love you and care for you. I'm going to show you how faithful I'll be.

I'm going to show you the nature of my character that just radiates in me.

And I want to have a life with you and live with you and work with you and let

your life become in all of its difficulty and maybe in its disappointment become

like just a point where people are just seeing God is so good.

God is so faithful. Look what he does even to broken people like this person.

So we remember today what Jesus has done.

What I want you guys to do is I want you to come up and we're not going to do

this together. You guys are going to take.

The cup symbolizing Jesus's blood shed on the cross and the bread symbolizing

his body broken for us, and I want you to go, and I want you to just take some

time while we worship to just think about what this means.

It doesn't mean, oh, I'm such a bad person. It means God's love is so much greater

than your sin and your brokenness and your pain, that he did everything to assure you,

that he is present, and he will be present. He will be present in your darkest moment.

He'll be present on your best day. He's no less kind and no less generous.

No matter the circumstances, we are reminded that even unto death, he loved his people.

He loved his church. He loved those he called. He's calling the whole world.

He's saying, would you just know and be reconciled to me and know my love and

know my grace and know my kindness so that when judgment comes,

I will say, well done, good and faithful servant.

You did the one thing I asked you to do. Just trust For all of our failings,

Jesus washes them away. For all of our failings, Jesus washes them away.

And discouragement, Jesus is

faithful. And so I want you to sit down and I want you to remember that.

And then I want you to just pray and to be reminded of how good he is and how

faithful he is and how he's sent the Spirit to be present in your life and your comforter.

And I want you, I want to challenge you, if you're there praying and you remember

that, that you would just stop and say and invite the Holy Spirit to be present with you yet again.

Say the oldest Christian prayer, the oldest recorded Christian prayer is this

simple prayer. It's come Holy Spirit.

This sense that, oh, we need to be reminded palpably and reasonably reminded,

Holy Spirit, that you're kind and you're good. Lord, would you come?

Would you be present with me like a friend who sits next to me,

like someone who comes and comforts me in the midst of difficulty?

Would you be that kind of present, that kind of close with me?

So just invite the Holy Spirit to do that. Just take some time.

And then just once you've done that, once you've sought the Lord,

once you've expected something from him, just come back into worship together.

And that's, we're going to, we're just going to keep worshiping.

All right. I'm not going to come back up again. All right.

So thoroughly explained. All right, good. Let's do that. And just come up during this song.